Barns frågor under en utforskande process kring träd

Children's questions about trees

Abstract

The aim of the study is to scrutinize children´s meaning-making in a tree-project during one year in a
preschool class. The purpose with this article is to shed light on what happens in children’s encounters
with the trees and how an exploratory approach might encompass children’s own questions and working
theories.
By mapping the children´s explorative process from the Deluzian concept learning as a relational field
of potentiality (Dahlberg & Elfström, 2014), the connections are identified and analyzed. The data has
been generated through ethnographical methods: participant observations, focus groups and stimulated
recall. The children’s aesthetic works and the concluding exhibition with additional walks are also part of
the data generating.
The mapping of the tree-project makes the meaning-making visible, where the children’s questions center
on complex issues with further connections to ecological issues and sustainability. The driving force of the
project is the questions that the children pose, while the pedagogues support their explorations in order
to deepen and develop the learning possibilities.